Teacher Central

NSW: Time to encourage more exerciseSYDNEY, June 13 - Many NSW primary school children still aren't getting enough exercise, says the state's Auditor-General.

About 30 per cent of government primary schools don't provide the required two hours of planned physical activity each week, according to a new report. In addition, students at schools that set aside the time don't actually end up engaging in two hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

"Students are spending too much time waiting their turn, setting up equipment or travelling to venues and not enough time on moderate to vigorous activity and learning fundamental movement skills," said NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat.

Student teachers fail primary school-level testsBy Tanya Chilcott June 11, 2012 ALMOST half of aspiring primary school teachers failed parts of a landmark test featuring literacy and numeracy questions that Year 7 students should be able to answer.

The results have reignited concerns about the quality of teaching graduates entering Queensland classrooms.

Reviving Teaching with Professional Capitalby Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves (co-authors of 'Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School)

The results of the latest MetLife Survey of the American Teacher confirm what many of us are experiencing and seeing in the depressing descent of the teaching profession. In the past two years, the percentage of teachers surveyed who reported being very satisfied in their jobs has declined sharply, from 59 percent to 44 percent. The number who indicated they were thinking of leaving the profession has jumped from 17 percent to 29 percent.

Imagine being a student knowing that every other teacher you encounter is becoming less and less satisfied, and close to one in three would rather be somewhere else.

Without a strong and relentless focus on what we call "professional capital," U.S. policymakers will continue to miss lessons from other countries about how they produce teacher fulfillment and effectiveness, and to misread warning signs here at home as well. We have directly studied, worked with, and worked in other successful countries, and they do not adopt the strategies of rewarding or punishing individual...

Digital campus changes the gameGeoff MaslenJune 5, 2012THE question could have unsettled Ed Byrne just as he was about to board a flight to China last week. Monash University's peripatetic vice-chancellor was off to attend the opening of yet another Monash overseas offshoot - this time a new graduate school near Shanghai to be run jointly with the Chinese Southeast University.

Higher Age wanted to know if the huge growth in online learning would inevitably mean the end of the traditional bricks-and-mortar university - including Monash's six Melbourne sites, its international bases in Malaysia, South Africa, and now China and its research centres in India and Italy.

Instead of being downcast at the prospect, Professor Byrne seemed cheerfully optimistic. ''I have no doubt that campus-based learning will remain durable into the future except that more and more it will represent a breadth of experience where the latest [information and communication technology] environments and technology offer new interactive experiences,'' he said.

Hew and Hara (2007) interviewed 20 teachers about their participation in online knowledge sharing and found seven factors which acted as motive for community involvement and five factors which acted as barriers or inhibitors of knowledge sharing. Their findings are summarised below:MOTIVATORS

Collectivism (belief in spreading ideas to help others)

Reciprocity (teachers had received help in the past therefore wanted to offer help in return)

Personal Gain (gain a better understanding of the subject, gain a better professional reputation, or gain emotional support)

Altruism (empathy with the struggles of other teachers)

Technology (contributes to greater sense of anonymity, therefore more open in sharing their knowledge)

Respectful Environment (to reduce the chance of being attacked for their views)

Interest of the Seeker to Learn (can encourage people to respond and share their knowledge)

BARRIERS

Lack of knowledge (feeling that they have nothing more to contribute or being unfamiliar with the...

CRITICS deride it as "happyology", but positive education is taking hold from the gleaming halls of Geelong Grammar to the classrooms of hardscrabble public schools across the country.

The brainchild of an American psychologist, positive education aims to help students cultivate positive emotions and character traits, improving their behaviour and fighting depression before it sinks in.

Teachers faced with the challenge of teaching adolescents in the 21st century have embraced it with fervour, led by the elite Geelong Grammar and its team of specially trained staff.

"If our investment saves one kid from committing suicide in 10 years' time it's worth every single penny," said vice-principal Charlie Scudamore.

This article provides a parental perspective on internet navigation and children's education.Parents need to be more online savvyEd LogueJune 03, 2012 PARENTS need to boost their computing skills so their children are not left behind with their homework, a report says.

The report, commissioned by NBN Co, the builder of the national broadband network, says 45 per cent of parents feel they are unable to solve problems their children have in searching for information online.

The Learning in the Third Millennium report says this is a regular occurrence for around 11 per cent of parents.Most (96 per cent) of the 1004 surveyed during May 2012 understood the importance of the internet to help their children's education, it says.

I came across a survey of American teachers which contains some interesting statistics. The study is described below:

Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation surveyed 10,000 public school teachers to take a personal look at the teaching profession. Primary Sources 2012: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession is a follow-up the original Primary Sources report released in 2009.

A small sample of the statistics:

Teachers welcome and are eager for more frequent evaluation of their practice from principals, peers and even students. Plus, they welcome feedback from a variety of sources.

Family involvement is the highest ranked factor for improving student achievement with 98% of teachers in agreement that it has a strong or very strong impact on student academic success. At the same time, 47% of veteran teachers report lower parental participation in their schools

44% of teachers would like more time to collaborate with colleagues, while 53% would like to spend less time disciplining students.